Never Was And Never Will Be
by Grasshopper
Summary: //5nevers, George x Yukari// In which there are five futures that George and Yukari never lived.


**Title:** Never Was And Never Will Be  
**Author:** Grasshopper (A.K.A. The Undertaker's Muse)  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Series:** 5nevers  
**Warnings:** Het, angst, alternate universe/alternate future, adultery, pregnancy, romance, original characters.  
**Fandom:** Paradise Kiss  
**Spoilers:** Various for the entire series.  
**Pairings:** Koizumi George x Hayasaka Yukari, some Tokumori Hiroyuki x Hayasaka Yukari, Tokumori Hiroyuki x Sakurada Miwako  
**Summary:** In which there are five futures that George and Yukari never lived.  
**Author's Notes:****_I finally wrote George/Yukari happiness!_** Well…sort of. Happi**er**, at least. Plus, they're actually **together**. That's gotta count for something, ne? And be warned; at some later date, I may revisit some of these different parts and continue or flesh out the possibilities of them. Oh, yeah - I'm obsessed…  
**Disclaimer:** All things _Paradise Kiss_ belong to Yazawa Ai-sensei. The titles for the fic and its parts are from the lyrics for _Everybody's Fool_ by Evanescence. Grassy only lays claim to the plot.

* * *

**(I.) Icons Of Self-Indulgence**

Koizumi George despised weak-willed people, especially women. People incapable of standing on their own; of making life-altering decisions without consulting someone else. Clingy individuals that cried too much and made stupid decisions about what was important.

Pretty much anyone that was like his mother, in all actuality.

George often wondered why he had married such a woman. At least his own mother was nothing more than his father's mistress. Koizumi Yukari (formerly Hayasaka Yukari) was an extremely beautiful woman, even at the age of thirty-nine. Over the many, many years (though it often seemed more like centuries) of their relationship, Yukari had become an odd conglomeration of bother their mothers. One moment, she was domineering and no-nonsense; the next, weeping and clinging to his ever-fashionable coattails.

Not for the first time, George was somewhat grateful for the fact that they'd never had children of their own (one unfortunate miscarriage four years into their marriage not included). Even discounting the frightening possibility of yet more people like his mother or mother-in-law being brought into the world, at least they hadn't subjected some poor soul to diffident affection or accusations of sabotaging a career just by being born.

Though, despite how troublesome dealing with Yukari tended to be, at least their sex life had gotten - willingly on Yukari's part, no less, to George's continued shock - progressively more kinky over the years.

With a weary sigh, George looked at the naked figure curled up facing his own on their large bed. In her sleep, Yukari seemed more and more like the naïve and cruel girl he'd met so long ago; it definitely went a way toward making up for how she acted when awake. But… _It could have been much worse_, he thought while pulling the sheets out of his wife's sleeping grip to cover himself.

Despite their increasingly hazardous marriage, at least things had never been boring.

* * *

**(II.) Lies About A World**

Tokumori Hiroyuki loved his wife, Yukari. He'd fallen in love years ago, after finally letting go of his feelings for Miwako. At that point, they had been dating off and on for several months, generally depending on their respective moods or schedules at the time. When he finally proposed, Hiro had known without a doubt that Yukari would accept. Their mutual friends wholeheartedly supported them in their decision to marry (and Yukari's mother had been especially happy about the state of things). After years of the two each battling their own personal wars, things had finally slid into place with a near-audible click.

…or so he, in all his blindness, had believed.

Hiro had never really known Koizumi George, though his presence was often quite heavily felt. No one, not even the loose-lipped Miwako, ever seemed to want to speak of him and tended to avoid brining up any mention of the man. At most, they spoke of his clothing (especially Yukari, with her desire to showcase the personal collection of Koizumi's designs she had been given all those years ago).

Of all people, Hiro knew better than to criticize how one dealt with the fallout of their first love. So he ignored the discomfiting way Yukari wore her ex's clothing; the way she was never more radiant than when she wore a Koizumi original with a small butterfly ring that made Miwako smile knowingly and Arashi avoid meeting Hiro's eyes directly.

Tokumori Hiroyuki had believed with nary a doubt that Hayasaka Yukari had put to rest her feelings for the blue-haired man when she accepted Hiro's proposal of marriage. Yukari had a viper's tongue, at times, but she wasn't outright cruel enough to do such a thing.

As he watched his wife of less than a week fall, teary-eyed, into the ostentatiously-clad arms of Koizumi George, Hiro realized just how blind a fool he had been.

But he still couldn't manage to look away from the couple's enthusiastic, and somewhat desperate, kiss.

* * *

**(III.) When You're Pretending**

There had been many ways in which Koizumi George had imagined seeing Hayasaka- No, make that Tokumori Yukari once again.

A coincidental run-in at a random restaurant…

The glimpse of a familiar figure on the sidewalk…

A ParaKiss get-together Isabella finally managed to drag him to…

Numerous scenarios with varied reactions on either of their parts had occupied his thoughts over many a free moment.

Somehow, the one scenario that had escaped his imagining was the one in which they actually managed to meet once more.

Blue eyes met brown and George and Yukari locked eyes for the first time in over three decades. Even at the age of fifty, Yukari's presence was enough to make his heart skip a beat as he bit his tongue to keep from letting loose his laughter.

Allowing his focus to widen from the steady beat of his heart repeating "Yukari_Yukari_Yukari_Yukari_," George smirked as his only son's words registered in his mind.

The girl his son intended to marry looked a good deal like her mother, though her eyes obviously came from her father.

And her name was Caroline.

* * *

**(IV.) Without The Mask**

At the age of eighteen, Hayasaka Yukari had never contemplated her life at the age of thirty-two. Even if she had, never would her younger self have imagined being a pregnant divorcee. Not, of course, that anyone other than herself and her doctor knew of that first particular fact, but such was still the case.

As soon as Tsutomu had called to tell her and Hiro of the accident that had left Miwako in Intensive Care and Arashi…deceased…Yukari had been counting the days until the end of her marriage. Mourning of any sort had never been something she knew how to manage well. Mostly, she let herself drown in work, but in place of that lack, Yukari dedicated her time in the aftermath between helping her husband and best friend with their grief as well as keeping Alice and Erica occupied.

When Hiro, after weeks that bled into months of pretending nothing had changed, finally told her that he planned to stay with Miwako for support, Yukari felt a piece of her heart break even as a part of her felt lighter for the end of the deception.

But, aimless and careerless as she was, Yukari lacked the direction she'd had for so long. She didn't object when Isabella decided that Carrie needed a more loving home, and allowed herself to be ushered into a move to America. Neither did she object when George had her escort him to various events in her newly-created Koizumi original maternity wear.

And when her newborn daughter was placed into George's arms for the first time, Yukari realized that she'd been blind to the new direction some part of her had decided upon before even leaving Japan. But now that she could see, nothing would stand in her way.

Besides, George made the most adorable baby clothes that Yukari had ever seen.

* * *

**(V.) Lost In Your Lie**

After what seemed like (and probably had been) hours of preparation, Hayasaka Yukari, the woman about to become Tokumori Yukari, stared intently at her reflection in the lighted mirror. She was determined to enjoy the silence brought by Miwako's determined clearing of the room to give the bride a moment to herself.

Yukari found herself instead studying the beautiful engagement ring Hiro had given her as she slid it from her finger unhurriedly, as if to keep from being noticed. A part of her wondered why she felt so guilty for that; all she planned to do was slip on the fingerless gloves made of some sheer, dainty lace that matched her dress perfectly.

Slowly…easily…without force. There was no need to risk having even one tear caused by a perfectly manicured nail ripping through the delicate tatting. Several moments later, glove-clad but still sans ring, Yukari finally met her own gaze in the mirror. Dark eyes widened at the figure behind her reflection.

A gloved finger tapped lightly at the figure's pale lips when she opened her mouth to speak. Silently, the man took Yukari's left hand in his own and slid a familiar butterfly ring upon the finger that had just recently sported a more expensive diamond and rose gold affair.

"If you turn around and kiss me, I'll take you away from here. You'll never be free of me." Intense blue eyes trapped her own in the mirror. "But if you replace this ring with the one on the vanity, I'll disappear from your life forever."

It took Yukari only a moment to respond with the decision she'd already made long, long ago.

Less than half an hour later, Miwako hurried into the room to alert Yukari of the dwindling time. Instead of her best friend contemplating her reflection as had been expected, the room was empty.

All that had been left behind was Yukari's engagement ring on the vanity and a butterfly scrawled in lipstick across the mirror.

* * *

**The End**


End file.
